Surviving our children-and Alaskan politics-one day at a time.

Archive for April 15th, 2009

As I drove to work this morning, I thought about what I would write about today. I would write about Ken Salazar’s visit, or Palin’s decision to pass three names (two of which have already been rejected) back to the Alaska State Senate for approval. Then I looked at my blogroll and clicked on a site I hadn’t visited for a couple of weeks. And then my whole perspective changed.

You see, I’ve been reading The Spohrs Are Multiplying, a mommyblog written by a very funny, very talented young woman named Heather. She writes about the adventures of her daughter, Maddie, who was born premature about 17 months ago. Maddie has the most angelic face of any child I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying a lot, since I think my own daughter is rather cute. Maddie is funny and strong- a real character.

Maddie died last week. A jolt of pain shot through my body when I read the news, and then I started crying. I don’t know Heather, she doesn’t know me. But I care about her and her daughter as if I did. My daughter is only five months older than Maddie, and I’d like to think that if we weren’t separated by thousands of miles, they could have been friends.

So today I’m not going to write about Sarah Palin, the Alaska Legislature or even WAR. I’m honoring a little girl who never got a chance to grow up and be the amazing person she could have been.